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The agitating clanging of the bell resonated through the school,
causing the silent classroom to erupt with chatter. People streamed
out from their classes into the hallways as they hastily tried to reach
their lockers before everyone else. The door closed with a soft click
and I was left alone in the classroom, with nothing but the dim
sunlight to keep me company. Unhurriedly, I slid my books one by
one intomy bag, and got out of my chair, making sure to push it under
the table. I slowly trudged to the gaping school gates. There were
many students outside, all of them on their phones, rapidly texting
their families and friends. I found my way to a decently shaded spot,
where I placed my bag on the ground. Sliding my hands into my
pockets, I began to wait.
Mere minutes of waiting felt like hours to me. One by one, my
classmates left with their parents. I listened to their animated voices,
chattering about what they did at school as well as other pointless
trivialities. Watching and waiting patiently, I stood still like a living
statue as the wind whispered around me, gently ruffling my brown
locks. After what seemed like an eternity, the last of the students left,
and I was finally left alone.
It is an immensely strange feeling to wait for no one; like expecting
a wish to be granted when it hasn’t even been made. I knew my
parents weren’t coming. That was a fact I knew to be true. Yet, I
stood there, silently waiting for them to arrive.
‘They have to come,’ I thought. ‘They will come.’
Seconds of waiting became minutes, and minutes became hours.
My bottom lip trembled and the last of my foolish hope crumbled to
dust. A single crystalline tear slid down my face and paused for a
second on my chin, glinting in the sunlight, before dropping onto
the grey slate ground. Another followed, and soon my body was
racked with sobs, my former feigned composure completely lost. It
was as if every individual one of my tears, was a fraction of my hope,
so pure and perfect; and when they hit the unforgiving ground,
splattering in all directions, my innocent longing would shatter,
piece by piece. As I sank down onto the ground, defeated, I felt
something cold drip suddenly onto my head. Slowly tilting my head
upwards, I was met with grey clouds and rain. It didn’t take long for
it to start pouring down. Closing my eyes, I let the cool drops mingle
with my own hot tears until there was no telling the difference
between the two. You wouldn’t be able to tell that I was crying, but
Abandoned
Felicity Chen
Isobelle Carmody Award
for Creative Writing
Runner-Up
10